Last Night Abroad

Tuesday, August 5th at almost midnight

It's hard to believe that tomorrow night I will be sleeping in my bed, in my apartment, in Hoboken. I love London, miss the craic, yet am ready to be home.

The last 24 hours have been pretty fantastic. Last night I went to the Grange for dinner with Jessie, Gary, Maggie, Matt, Jenny, and Mike. We had a wonderful time over a great meal. Today I met Heather and Aunt Pam for a trip to the National Gallery. Between their combined knowledge of art and medieval history, it was like a professional tour. We stopped for lunch near Trafalgar Square, walked along the river, ate dessert near Covent Garden, walked through the shops from Neil Street to Bond Street, and met Patricia for dinner.

I feel like London is the perfect way to transition from Ireland to Hoboken. There is the diversity of home, the rain (of which there is plenty) smells like the city, and I've eaten American, English, and Spanish in the span of a day. My steak sandwich had butter and the Spanish omelette was mostly potato. It's like the perfect fusion of the familiar and the strangely European.

Walking about London was fantastic because: 1) my cousins are a riot, and 2) it's the perfect blend of memories and new discoveries. I found restaurants and shops from my first visit when I was sixteen, the location where I purchased my first formal suit, the bar where I ordered my first legal drink, the park where Jonathan and I had a picnic last spring, and so on. I also tried new foods and drinks which I cannot find without difficulty in the States.

Don't know when I'll next write. I intended this blog to be a travelogue of my summer experience. I may or may not post updates in the future. We shall see. For now, so long.